One pound of bananas equals 3 medium or 4 small bananas equals 2 cups sliced bananas equals 1 cup mashed bananas.
Bananas are loaded with potassium, an important mineral that, along with sodium, helps control the water balance in the body.
Bananas are ripe when the skin is bright yellow. They are under-ripe when green, and overripe when brown and mushy.
For fun and fiber, sprinkle 1/4 cup of dried fruit pieces on your breakfast cereal. Try raisins, dried cranberries, cranberries, apples, or bananas.
Guava tastes like lime, kiwifruit, banana, and berries all rolled into one. Though the seeds are edible, they're usually discarded.
Mash overripe bananas, add a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown, and freeze. Thaw for use in cakes or breads.
Once bananas are ripe store them in the refrigerator to help slow down ripening. The skin will turn dark brown, but this does not damage the fruit inside.
Prevent banana slices from browning by brushing lightly with ascorbic acid color keeper or lemon juice.
To get the best bananas, choose them at any stage of ripeness, from green to yellow. Ripen them at room temperature until they have a very healthy yellow color. Very ripe bananas are brown and make excellent breads and cakes.
When cooked, a plantain tastes similar to a banana; pick a black plantain for the ripest, fullest. Ripen green or yellow plantains at room temperature.
You can save ripe bananas for baking later, just mash them and freeze in the amounts needed for your recipes.
